Business Link announces 145 redundancies

ALMOST 150 staff at business support organisation Business Link West Midlands (BLWM) have been issued with redundancy notices heralding the formal demise of the body.

BLWM, which is mainly funded through Advantage West Midlands, is being axed as part of the Government’s drive to reduce the number of publicly funded bodies.

The support agency has already had its budget cut by AWM due to the reduced funding allocated to the RDA. It is likely that the first staff will leave the Quinton-based operation in the spring, with the others following later.

In a statement, the organisation said it had notified the 145 staff that their jobs were at risk as it prepared for a vastly reduced budget and the likely closure of the regional service during the next financial year.  

The budget reduction is in line with cuts to other publicly funded services following the Comprehensive Spending Review and the changes to the future of the Business Link service already announced.

Under the Government’s plans the regional Business Link structure will be dismantled with the service ultimately becoming a national-based calls centre and website.

It is envisaged approximately 60 staff will remain at Advantage House until the organisation’s final closure in spring 2012. In the meantime, it will continue to operate its core services.

BLWM chief executive Lorraine Holmes said: “Today’s announcement is sad news for BLWM and I would like to praise the commitment and hard work of the staff, who have contributed greatly to the business success of the West Midlands and have continued to provide a highly professional service during what has been – and continues to be – a very uncertain time.

“The key message for businesses and our partners is that BLWM remains committed to providing business support to new and existing companies across the region until our closure. We will also focus on migrating the many years of knowledge we have accumulated to successor organisations.

“During the previous two years our work has resulted in the creation of more than 7,000 new jobs and an increased GVA of £484m in the businesses we have supported.”

Knowing full well the challenges of the job market, she said BLWM would continue to support its entire staff through this transition period.